rtm wrote:
> Why does acquire() call cpuid()? Why does release() call cpuid()?

The cpuid in acquire is redundant with the cmpxchg, as you said.
I have removed the cpuid from acquire.

The cpuid in release is actually doing something important,
but not on the hardware.  It keeps gcc from reordering the
lock->locked assignment above the other two during optimization.
(Not that current gcc -O2 would choose to do that, but it is allowed to.)
I have replaced the cpuid in release with a "gcc barrier" that
keeps gcc from moving things around but has no hardware effect.

On a related note, I don't think the cpuid in mpmain is necessary,
for the same reason that the cpuid wasn't needed in release.

As to the question of whether

  acquire();
  x = protected;
  release();

might read protected after release(), I still haven't convinced
myself whether it can.  I'll put the cpuid back into release if
we determine that it can.

Russ